Officially one of you build - Code name Bronconius the Gentleman

[Mattco]

I have been lurking for a few months since selling my CJ7 pretty regular, a member for awhile before that. Finally made the leap this morning and bought a project and I mean project. Let's start off with this:

Good things:
- Has good bones
- still has the transfer case
- still has the C4
- still has both axles and some rollers on them
- lots of good body panels but won't know for sure what extent until I blast away the paint.
- the rear floor pans and inner quarters are pretty awesome.

Bad things:
- Needs rockers something fierce
- no engine
- no steering column
- front floor pans are shot
- tailgate is shot also
- going to need a few panels, probably 1 fender, maybe an inner fender, most likely one quarter panel and some random sheet metal patches.

Starter pics:

Rough game plan:
- Pull the body and blast the frame and cover with KBS rust seal.
- Rebuild both axles
- Install a new suspension kit. Leaning towards a Bilstein setup. More on that in a minute.
- Rebuild the Dana 20 and C4
- Get a 302 from a buddy and carburate it for now.
- start blasting the body and working on it when all the sub is done.

Questions for the experts:
- What's the best place to get the bearing/rebuild kits for the axles, C4 and Dana 20? bmracing.com was mentioned several times on mustang sites for their kits on the C4. Is there a better option?
- When I was researching D90s, Old Man EMU was a huge name and highly thought of among that bunch. I have barely seen them mentioned on this forum at all but bilstein is pretty well thought of among everyone. Why no love for OME here? I have owned Bilstein with good results so I am leaning that way. I am building for 90% road/10% light off road/trails.
- How good are the EFI kits? Are they pretty comparable to a full EFI setup? I am looking for dependability/reliability and gas milage. I realize that results vary, but are the kits close to a ground up EFI setup? I ask this because I will need a new harness and engine either way, i would rather get the truck going and add EFI later but if the kits don't compare in the long run then I would do better to take the time to set it up now.

 

[lil bronco]

Looks liked an old Kelly top and someone started to make a half cab of it.

 

[Mattco]

Not sure what kind of top it was, it was hacked and it just going to be trashed unless someone wants something off of it. Not sure what is salvageable until I start pulling the body off this weekend.

 

[bigpitbull]

Looks fun! Good luck with the build. Keep the pics coming... It helps keep the rest of us motivated on our projects!

 

[broncosbybart]

Wow! That is a project.

To answer a few of your questions, a few trans places would be Broader Perf or BTE racing.

All of the vendors sell D20 rebuild kits. Axle stuff you can get from them or from a local parts house. Wheel bearings and the like are easy to come by.

OME is a pretty big outfit and I have heard of them with Toyotas and other vehicles. I don't know if they market EB springs. I highly recommend the WH spring/suspension setup. It may be marketing, but I do think the EB vendors put a fair bit of time and research into their suspension kits.

For an EFI system, it is hard to beat the factory Ford stuff. Most use 89-93 MAF Mustang parts. Since it has no engine, you might get a 96-97 Ford Explorer 5.0 and be ahead of the game.

 

[Scoop]

As mentioned I don't think OME markets to early Broncos. Not a big market and not a world market for Broncos. Check out all the Bronco vendors for lift kits. WH, Duff's and Tom's all have good Bronco specific lift kits that work with Bilsteins. Duff's has a great rear 4-link kit and probably the best long arm kit. Stay away from Superlift or other non-Bronco specific vendor kits. Most are old school, too stiff and rough riding.

Also as mentioned, Ford efi off a Mustang or Explorer is probably the best efi conversion for a 302.

What is your goal for this Bronco? You've stated an initial work list but what's the desired end result? Street modified daily driver? Trail capable weekend warrior? Show quality restoration?? Lift and tire size wanted? Might be good to lay that out now - and then compare it to what you end up with! LOL

Good luck with your project - many of us started out with ones in worse shape!

 

[zonian]

Congrats on saving another one from the rust pile....keep the photos rolling, best of luck on the build....

 

[Mattco]

Ultimately I want it capable of being a daily driver. Realistically it will be in the road 90% to 95% of the time and the rest will be trail riding/camping type rides.

I want to set this one up for a good ride and the way I want from ground up since I didn't really have that option in my old CJ7 without undoing a lot of work.

I like the idea of the c4 being a simple tranny but it has it's limits in terms of efficiency.

 

[Mattco]

Went out and have fiddled with the Bronco a few times for 30 minutes after work and pulled a few parts off and located my fuse box....

I'm going to have to be careful taking it off so I can bring lunch the next day.

 

[Mattco]

Went out to the shop and pulled the top off of it and removed a few small things and then got the windshield unfrozen and folded down so I can remove it.

Even went ahead and made some paint mods. Rubbin' is racin' you know...

 

[bronco t]

wow, you got more courage than me. Good luck.

 

[thegreatjustino]

Off to a good start #3!

 

[Mattco]

Off to a good start #3!

The funny part is I hate racing but had to do the zombieland reference when I could. Not every day you can take a can of spray paint to a truck and laugh about it.

Next in the list will be to cut out the welds and get the windshield off to start working on it and then pulling the body off. Is it easier to do panels repairs while the body is mounted or does it matter? I have to do floor pans and thinking about taking it back to uncut quarters.

 

[bobscott]

I would brace it up, then replace the pans and rockers with it on the frame. I braced mine by using angle that bolted into the door post (hing side) then ran a piece back along the bedrails. Basically make a L shape that bolts to the door post and bedrail. Then I would put a cross brace at the door and a brace at the top by the tailgate. I think leaving it on the frame until you get the pans in and rockers replaced helps keep the tub square.

 

[Mattco]

Ok. Wasn't sure about that stuff. While I want a good driver, I am also using it to learn on so I have lots of questions. Trying to use the search function first since most of my questions have been answered with videos and pictures on here many times before.

 

[Rox Crusher]

Well, your off to a great start.

On the days when your all out gumption doesn't carry the day, looks like you have a great sense of humor to pull you through.

Subscribed.

 

[Mattco]

What gauge sheet metal should I pick up to make general body patches? I will have a fee spots on the tailgate to patch up, a fee up around the windshield and a couple small things here and there. I am going to order rockers and floor pans and possibly rear quarters to take it back to uncut.

 

[Mattco]

Game plan this weekend is to pull the seats and auxiliary gas tank to check both out. The skid plate under the auxiliary tank is in real bad shape. What is the easiest way to replace that?

 

[BluebroncoNC]

Game plan this weekend is to pull the seats and auxiliary gas tank to check both out. The skid plate under the auxiliary tank is in real bad shape. What is the easiest way to replace that?

my guess would be vendors, some of them have back up parts vehicles if there are no new manufactured parts... Just start clicking the vendors advertisements here.

Love to see another Bronco being brought back from the brink!

 

[Mattco]

Ok thank you. I'm going to be starting some parts relationships with a couple vendors it seems. I have one with BPUtah from my old range rover I played with. Hated to get rid of it but parts started getting crazy.